................blogs on architecture,design and built environment..............

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Nepal: Hisotry in brief

Key Events:1768 - Gurkha ruler Prithvi Narayan Shah conquers Kathmandu and lays foundations for unified kingdom.1792 - Nepalese expansion halted by defeat at hands of Chinese in Tibet.1814-16 - Anglo-Nepalese War; culminates in treaty which establishes Nepal's current boundaries.1846 - Nepal falls under sway of hereditary chief ministers known as Ranas, who dominate the monarchy and cut off country from outside world. 1923 - Treaty with Britain affirms Nepal's sovereignty.Absolute monarchy1950 - Anti-Rana forces based in India form alliance with monarch.1951 - End of Rana rule. Sovereignty of crown restored and anti-Rana rebels in Nepalese Congress (NCP) Party form government.

1953 29 May - New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepal's Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest.1955 - Nepal joins the United Nations.1955 - King Tribhuwan dies, King Mahendra ascends throne.1959 - Multi-party constitution adopted.1960 - King Mahendra seizes control and suspends parliament, constitution and party politics after Nepali Congress Party (NCP) wins elections with B. P. Koirala as premier.1962 - New constitution provides for non-party system of councils known as "panchayat" under which king exercises sole power. First elections to Rastrya Panchayat held in 1963.1972 - King Mahendra dies, succeeded by Birendra.King Mahendra's 1962 constitution cemented royal rule1980 - Constitutional referendum follows agitation for reform. Small majority favours keeping existing panchayat system. King agrees to allow direct elections to national assembly - but on a non-party basis.1985 - NCP begins civil disobedience campaign for restoration of multi-party system.1986 - New elections boycotted by NCP.1989 - Trade and transit dispute with India leads to border blockade by Delhi resulting in worsening economic situation.1990 - Pro-democracy agitation co-ordinated by NCP and leftist groups. Street protests suppressed by security forces resulting in deaths and mass arrests. King Birendra eventually bows to pressure and agrees to new democratic constitution.

1991 - Nepali Congress Party wins first democratic elections. Girija Prasad Koirala becomes prime minister.Political instability1994 - Koirala's government defeated in no-confidence motion. New elections lead to formation of Communist government.1995 - Communist government dissolved.1995 -Radical leftist group, the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist), begins insurrection in rural areas aimed at abolishing monarch and establishing people's republic, sparking a conflict that would drag on for over a decade. 1997 - Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba (NCP) loses no-confidence vote, ushering in period of increased political instability, with frequent changes of prime minister.2000 - GP Koirala (NCP) returns as prime minister, heading the ninth government in 10 years.2001 1 June - King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and other close relatives killed in shooting spree by drunken Crown Prince Dipendra, who then shoots himself.2001 4 June - Prince Gyanendra crowned King of Nepal after Dipendra dies of his injuries.2001 July - Maoist rebels step up campaign of violence. Prime Minister GP Koirala quits over the violence; succeeded by Sher Bahadur Deuba.2001 November - Maoists end four-month old truce with government, declare peace talks with government failed. Launch coordinated attacks on army and police posts.

2001 November - State of emergency declared after more than 100 people are killed in four days of violence. King Gyanendra orders army to crush the Maoist rebels. Many hundreds are killed in rebel and government operations in the following months.2002 May - Parliament dissolved, fresh elections called amid political confrontation over extending the state of emergency. Sher Bahadur Deuba heads interim government, renews emergency.

2002 October - King Gyanendra dismisses Deuba and indefinitely puts off elections set for November. Lokendra Bahadur Chand appointed as PM.2003 January - Rebels, government declare ceasefire.2003 May-June - Lokendra Bahadur Chand resigns as PM; king appoints his own nominee Surya Bahadur Thapa as new premier.End of truce2003 August - Rebels pull out of peace talks with government and end seven-month truce. The following months see resurgence of violence and frequent clashes between students/activists and police.2004 April - Nepal joins the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

2004 May - Royalist Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa resigns following weeks of street protests by opposition groups.2004 June - King Gyanendra reappoints Sher Bahadur Deuba as prime minister with the task of holding elections.Direct power2005 1 February - King Gyanendra dismisses Prime Minister Deuba and his government, declares a state of emergency and assumes direct power, citing the need to defeat Maoist rebels. 2005 30 April - King lifts the state of emergency amid international pressure.2005 November - Maoist rebels and main opposition parties agree on a programme intended to restore democracy.2006 April - King Gyanendra agrees to reinstate parliament following weeks of violent strikes and protests against direct royal rule. GP Koirala is appointed as prime minister. Maoist rebels call a three-month ceasefire.2006 May - Parliament votes unanimously to curtail the king's political powers. The government and Maoist rebels begin peace talks, the first in nearly three years. 2006 16 June - Rebel leader Prachanda and PM Koirala hold talks - the first such meeting between the two sides - and agree that the Maoists should be brought into an interim government.2006 November - The government and Maoists sign a peace accord, declaring a formal end to a 10-year rebel insurgency. The rebels are to join a transitional government and their weapons will be placed under UN supervision.2007 January - Maoist leaders enter parliament under the terms of a temporary constitution. Violent ethnic protests erupt in the south-east; demonstrators demand autonomy for the region.Maoists join government 2007 April - Former Maoist rebels join interim government, a move that takes them into the political mainstream.2007 May - Elections for a constituent assembly pushed back to November.A US offer to resettle thousands of Bhutanese refugees in Nepal has raised hopes but has also sparked tension in the camps, says Human Rights Watch.2007 September - Three bombs hit Kathmandu in the first attack in the capital since the end of the Maoist insurgency.Maoists quit interim government to press demand for monarchy to be scrapped. This forces the postponement of November's constituent assembly elections.2007 October - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges Nepal's parties to sink their differences to save the peace process.

2007 December - Parliament approves abolition of monarchy as part of peace deal with Maoists, who agree to re-join government.2008 January - A series of bomb blasts kill and injure dozens in the southern Terai plains. Groups there have been demanding regional autonomy.2008 April - Former Maoist rebels win the largest bloc of seats in elections to the new constituent assembly, but fail to achieve an outright majority.

2008 May - Nepal becomes a republic.2008 June - Maoist ministers resign from the cabinet in a row over who should be the next head of state.2008 July - Two months after the departure of King Gyanendra, Ram Baran Yadav becomes Nepal's first president.2008 August 18 Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal ( Prachanda) becomes Priminister.